Website Chip Hazard is reporting that members of the AT&T Mobility team have been given preproduction versions of the iPhone 5 to test on their network. According to the site:

Our sources claim that the next generation iPhone is in the hands of beta testers right now. They are running tests, including but not limited to signal reception and connectivity tests. They have been given the pre-release version of the iPhone 5 and as soon as they are done with the testing phase, the final work would be sorted out and Apple would then direct manufacturers to start producing hundreds of thousands of new iPhone 5 units, so that they could be timely shipped to millions of anxious iPhone users, and prospective iPhone owners, around the globe.

Although this rumor’s source is unknown to us, the protocol of wireless networks testing out new iPhones before giving final approval has been used before. For the CDMA iPhone 4, Verizon was given pre-production versions two weeks before its release for testing purposes. Staffers were required to enter in a pin code every 12 hours. If they didn’t, the iPhone would lose all functionality. There was so much secrecy surrounding that launch, Verizon employees testing it weren’t allowed say the word “iPhone,” rather they referred to it as ACME.

If the AT&T-testing rumor is true, then the next iPhone could as close to mass production and release as two weeks.

uhh yea they are going to launch the iphone 5 with or after ios5 is released which has a fall release date because it wouldnt make sense to release it with ios4 when they put emphasis on ios5 being able to boot up the device right out of the box…so we wont get are hands on it until september